Early Risers
by sakarrie
Summary: When the Paladins get the morning off from training, Hunk decides to wake up early to surprise them with some new recipes. It seems that everyone's awake this morning though. Just a cute little bonding fic. Fluff! Family!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Okay, so I know, this is super different from Not On My Watch, but I decided it would be a fun experiment! Honestly, it was from a story prompt group I'm part of and I wasn't expecting it to be more thenlike 300 words. Now, here I am at 1,300, the longest chapter I've written (I'm still new to this, sorry!), and one, potentially two, more chapters left. But eh, I decided it was fun to write so I'd post it on here. Besides, Hunk is severely underappreciated and deserves more fics.

Also, I never expected I would ever write a humor story, so enjoy it while it lasts. I got some serious angst coming sometime soon.

Reviews are love! 3

* * *

Hunk leaned against the counter, his homemade whisk in hand. He had just about figured out the recipe but how what could he substitute for eggs? Eggs are essential in making fudgy brownies and there was no way he would settle for anything less.

His musings were interrupted by the sound of footsteps down the hall. Weird. He hadn't expected anyone else to be awake for at least another hour. They had had a rough battle recently, so training for the morning was cancelled. Hunk thought it would be a great opportunity to surprise his fellow paladins as well as try out a new recipe. He hadn't had the chance to cook much recently, so it was nice to finally relax and let go of the scary reality they were in.

The footsteps got louder as they got closer and Hunk looked up to see Shiro come in. He paused when he saw that Hunk was already in the room. "Oh. Good morning Hunk, I didn't expect anyone else to be up yet."

Hunk smiled. It wasn't a shock that of anyone, Shiro was the one to wake up. Although he didn't talk about it much, they all knew Shiro had a hard time sleeping. Hunk often wondered if it had anything to do with his arm. Considering that it was metal, he assumed it wasn't quite as malleable as the other parts of his body and was hard to find a position that worked for both it and the rest of him.

Hunk had considered offering to take a look at it, but Shiro seemed to prefer making the most of the situation rather than making a big deal. At the same time though, if it helped Shiro get some well-deserved sleep, he was more than happy to do it. "I just decided it was a good time for some morning baking." He smiled, holding up the spoon dripping with currently-purple goo.

Shiro smiled at that and made to sit down on the nearby couch before pausing. Turning to Hunk he ask. "Do mind if I join you? I don't want to intrude."

Hunk waved his hand with the spoon in a dismissive gesture, setting goo bits flying in all directions. "No, it's cool. I don't mind company."

He watched as as the good-natured man sat down on the couch, adjusting himself to find a more comfortable position. Hunk thought again about potentially bringing up his arm, but decided against it as Shiro finally seemed to find the right spot.

"You know," Hunk said "I actually used to cook with my dad a lot." He smiled slightly at the memory. "We used to make the craziest foods. He's the one that taught me everything I know."

Hunk went over the cupboard, bringing out some edible worms from the last reconnaissance mission. They were a bit salty for brownies but it should give them the right texture at least.

"He's actually the reason that I can cook with the goo too." He continued. "My dad was really big on experimenting and just using what we had. We cooked so often that often the main ingredients would have run out and we had to play around with it to see what worked as a substitute." Hunk chuckled. "We made some pretty nasty stuff sometimes."

Shiro listened with a fond smile. "That explains a lot. What are you making now?"

Hunk opened his mouth to speak but a grumbling from down the hall made him pause. They both turned to see Lance step out of the hallway in his robe, rubbing his eyes. Not even pausing when he saw the others, he plopped himself down on the couch next to Shiro and complained loudly "Figures that once we finally get the chance to sleep in, my body decides to wake me up anyway." He glanced over at the bowl Hunk had out. "Whatcha making?"

Hunk sprinkled in some herbs he had discovered helped keep cakes moist as they cooked. "You'll find out when it's done. I want to see if you can recognise the flavor with knowing what I'm going for."

Lance stretched, his expression quickly changing into one of excitement. "Sounds fun! But I warn you. These taste buds can pick out the slightest difference."

Hunk laughed then shifted his expression over to Shiro, who shrugged. "Why not? You haven't poisoned us so far." He said with a smile.

"Awesome! I'm almost done with the batter now."

More footsteps sounded down the hall, these ones quieter. Raising his eyebrow, Shiro commented "Guess everyone's up this morning."

The owner of the footsteps appeared in the doorway, revealing a tired-looking Pidge with her glasses askew and a mug in her hand. She stopped when she saw everyone, her eyebrows knitting together. "Why are you all up?"

Hunk gestured to the mixing bowl. "I was going to surprise you guys with a morning treat, but I guess the castle is full of early risers today." He smiled at her.

Pidge's eyes widened at his response. "Morning? What time is it?"

Shiro frowned. "A little after when we'd normally get up to train. Why?"

Pidge rubbed her temple, looking down at her mug. "I didn't realise I'd been working so long. I was just coming in to get some more coffee."

Shiro's expression was a mixture of concern and scolding. "Pidge. You stayed up all night?" He sighed. "You should go catch some sleep while you still can."

Pidge shook her head. "I've had way too much caffeine to sleep anytime soon."

Hunk repressed a laugh at the comment. He had made up some coffee goo a few weeks in and Pidge had been addicted ever since. "You should join us. The batter's almost ready to put in the oven and then it should be done soon."

Lance called out "Yeah! Come on Pidge! Family bonding time!" He made a show of scooting over to give her a spot.

Pidge sighed. "I guess I won't be getting much more work done until the download is finished anyway." She sat down next to Lance. "What are you making, Hunk?"

Lance turned to her, smirking like he had some juicy gossip. "It's a surprise. We're going to guess once it's done." Lance wiggled his eyebrows.

"Only if you want." Hunk added, pouring the batter into an oven pan.

Pidge looked over at the concoction curiously, then shrugged. "Sure. Sounds fun. So, what are you all doing up this early?"

Before Shiro or Hunk had the chance to even think, Lance had smacked his hands down on the table in front of them, eyes wild like he was about prove a conspiracy. Unfortunately, there had been a bowl of goo in front of him and one hand had nicked the spoon hanging out of it, flinging the green substance into Shiro's face.

The room split into chaos. Lance's hands flew to his face and he was spouting apologies through unsuccessfully-stifled laughs, Shiro seemed to be creating a new yoga pose in his attempt to keep the goo from dripping, and Hunk, who had immediately dropped his spoon at the commotion, had raced over scrubbing furiously at the few drips on the couch. All the while, Pidge's crazed laughter could be heard in the background.

A soft voice entered the room, momentarily pausing the madness. "Wha...?" Everyone froze, turning to see Keith standing in the doorway, looking like he had just stumbled upon a unicorn in a bus seat. There was a second of silence where everyone just stared. Finally, throwing his hands up, Keith said "Not even gonna ask," beginning to turn back.

"Oh no you don't!" Lance cried, grabbing his shoulder and steering him into the room. "We are having quality family time and you are going to join us."


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! So I know I just posted the first chapter of this and you were probably expecting my next update to be the next chapter of Now On My Watch, but I just wanted to finish this one up first. Besides, it was written, so I figured I may as well post it.

Thanks for all of the faves and reviews! You guys rock! If you're a user who reviewed, I replied through DM. (:

As for the guest reviewer, I don't if you'll get this, but I glad you like it! Here's more right now!

Also, I realised I hadn't been putting disclaimers and, while I feel like it's clear, I'm just gonna stick it here just in case: I have no ownership over any of the characters, places, or anything relating the the show Voltron.

Anyway, here you go!

* * *

The next thing he knew, Keith had been plopped onto the couch with the rest of them, his posture tight and uncomfortable. "So, what exactly are we doing in here?"

Finally have gotten most of the goo off of him, Shiro explained, "Hunk is making us a new recipe."

"It's a surprise." Pidge clarified with a smirk.

"And!" Lance jumped in. "We're going to guess what it is once it's done."

Hunk opened his mouth and Lance quickly added "If you're game, of course."

Keith rolled his eyes, used to Lance's attempt to get under skin by now. After a moment he shrugged. "Okay."

Lance was about to speak when a loud clanging came through the hall. There was indistinguishable shouting and the Paladins all immediately jumped to their feet. The sounds got louder and louder until Allura burst through the doorway, breathing hard.

Keith was the first to speak. "Is there an intruder?" He regretted not having his knife, but he prepared to fight anyway.

Allura didn't answer his question. Instead, when she raised her face, it was filled with anger. "Are you aware how horrifying it to to wake up and find all of your rooms empty?! I thought someone had broken into the castle and taken you!"

Everyone looked rightfully ashamed, feeling bad for scaring her like that. Tentatively, Lance stepped forward, his arms up in a placating manner. "Relax Princess. This is a bonding exercise."

Shiro opened his mouth to scold Lance, but Allura beat him to it. "You're... training?" She looked around the room, noticing the messy rag and a few specks of goo across the furniture.

Before anyone could stop him, Lance jumped on his chance. "Yeah! This is how we do it on Earth."

Allura straightened her posture, suddenly slightly ashamed she had burst into the room. "Ah, I see. I apologise for disrup-"

"Relax. It's not an exercise for fighting." Pidge interrupted, rolling her eyes. She shrugged. "Honestly, it's not even an exercise. We're just chilling."

Allura glanced again at the goo splatters. "'Chilling'... I see." She did not see.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed her shoulders back and walked into the room fully. She sat down next to Keith, her back straight. "So, how exactly does one... "chill"?

Hunk, who had resumed his place in the kitchen set the batter into the oven and joined the others on the couch. "It's just relaxing. You know? Taking a breather." He stretched his arms above him and settled into the couch. "Alright. We've got about 30 minutes until the mystery goo is done."

Lance looked down at the pillows lying on the ground. "You know, those pillows would make a great pillow fort. Add some blankets with this couch and it'd be the perfect setup for a blanket fort.

Allura's forehead scrunched in confusion. "Pillow and... blanket fort?"

"You've never heard of blanket forts?" Pidge shouted, looking as if someone had just compared her to the backend of an sloth.

Allura shook her head slowly, unsure of how she had offended her.

"Well, we have a half varga. Time to learn!" Lance announced.

Pidge nodded vigorously. "Me and Matt are the BEST at this. We used to do it all the time and then just sit in there when we were working on projects. Wow, it's been _forever_..."

Sensing Pidge's change in mood, Shiro said. "It'd be fun to make one. You'll catch on quickly Princess."

Hunk smiled. "Yeah, piece of cake. You're just making a little fort from furniture and blankets and stuff.

Allura still looked slightly worried, but there was also a determination. "Let's do it."

Everyone looked to Keith, since he was the only who hadn't talked yet. "I, uh, I don't know how. I never did it as a kid so..."

Lance slung his arm around Keith's shoulder. "Good thing that we have experts here to teach you then." He smirked.

"Alright. So how do we do this?" Allura asked, taking a deep breath.

"First step in to gather chairs, blankets, pillows, and anything else we can use." Pidge said. Allura, Keith. You get blankets. Shiro, Lance? Let's go find some furniture." She gave her signature lopsided smile and took off down the hall.

Within a ten minutes, they had put together quite the pile of supplies.

"Alright. Next is the actual construction." Pidge said like she was giving the order to fire.

Noticing that Allura still seemed slightly uncomfortable, Hunk nudged her arm and gave her a smile. "That's the best part."

She returned the smile and joined as everyone started moving the furniture around.

Suddenly, a voice came through the speaker. "Princess, I haven't had any luck locating the paladins, and it seems that whoever took them has also taken our blankets. I'm going to check the main area and see what I can find. I have many theories of the blanket relation that I want to discuss with you."

Allura's face fell. "Oh no, Coran." She looked at the others lost. "I didn't tell him that I had found you." She let out a breath. "Well, I suppose he's coming down anyway. We may as well continue."

The others cheered in agreement.

Everyone seemed to fall into a system. Hunk and Pidge oversaw the infrastructure, Keith, Shiro, Allura worked on adding blankets, and Lance was in charge of the decorations and furnishing.

The fort had nearly been built by the time Coran's voice echoed through the hall. "Princess! I know what must have happened! Someone used yelmores to sneak into the castle and then took the blankets to hide the paladins in once they had shrunk them too! Although why they'd need so many..." Coran trialed off, seeing the fort and the Paladins around it. "Oh. Well, hello there."

Allura pursed her lips. "I apologise for not informing you Coran. I got distracted." She turned toward the almost-finished fort. "These Earthen customs are quite fun. You really must join us."

Coran looked intrigued, picking up a blanket. "Well, if you insist. How do you do this?"

Lance lifted his hands for emphasis. "Well, it's a careful art, but-"

"You put the blankets over the furniture so it makes a cave." Keith said flatly.

Lance glared at Keith. "I was _getting_ there."

With the help of Coran, things went even faster and soon a cave of tunnels and different chambers sat in the middle of the room. The paladins and Alteans, looked at their work with pride. "Well, that was quite satisfying." Coran said, moving to take it down.

There was a sea of protests from the paladins and Coran paused confused. "You... don't take it down?"

"Not immediately." Shiro said. "It's kind of a place to hangout."

A ring sounded through the air and Hunk hurried into the kitchen. A delicious smell filled the room and Hunk announced. "It's done!"

The others started cheering, coming to gather around the goo concoction. Hunk quickly served everyone a small portion to try.

"I'll go first!" Lance cried, eagerly taking a spoonful. His eyes went wide and he hummed in delight. "This is delicious, Hunk! What'd you put in it?" Before Hunk could reply, Lance quickly amended "Actually, I don't want to know. But... it tastes like... Fudge?"

Hunk smiled. "Should I say yes or no, or do you all want to try first?"

"I want to try first!" Pidge said immediately. Taking her own mouthful, she grinned. "I know what it is. I'll go last."

Keith was up next and, savoring the taste on his tongue, he smiled. "This really is great, Hunk."

Hunk grinned his thanks and Lance nudged Keith's arm. "So? What's your guess?"

Keith looked started. "Oh, uh, I really don't know. Cake?"

Hunk smiled, "Shiro?"

Shiro took a bite and considered for a moment. "It reminds me of those double chocolate cookies from Subway."

There was ripple of agreement through the other paladins.

Allura ate some next, and her eyes shot open. "This tastes exactly like glofern! Coran you must try it."

He did, and he nodded vigorously. "You're right. I didn't know you had glofern on Earth."

"We don't. What's that?" Keith asked.

"Well, it's a combination of many ingredients including spratles and frazzle wips. It-"

Everyone wore a blank look and Keith held up his hand. "Forget I asked. So Hunk, you gonna tell us what it is?"

"Wait!" Cried Pidge. I haven't guess yet. It's brownies, isn't it?"

Hunk grinned and nodded. "Pidge wins!"

There was a wave of realisation and Pidge whooped, taking a victory bite. "You know, we should eat this in out pillow fort." She said through the food.

"That sounds like a fantastic idea!" Coran announced, immediately grabbing his goo and racing to the entrance.

The others followed with their own bowls. It was slightly tight, but no one seemed to mind.

They ate for a bit in comfortable silence, enjoying their food, before Shiro spoke up. "This is super good. Thank you, Hunk."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Delicious." Lance added.

Allura finished swallowed and then said, "While your Earthly traditions are quite strange, they're also quite enjoyable. Perhaps you should share more sometime."

Keith shrugged. "I don't have many traditions personally, but it'd be cool to learn about yours."

Pidge jumped up excitedly. "Oh, the Holts have TONS of crazy traditions and stuff! We're like a cult." She grinned mischievously.

"And my family has lots of traditions too! Gosh, I miss them." Lance wore a sad smile, but still held his enthusiasm.

"Well," Shiro said. "That decides it. Besides, it's team building."

Everyone laughed and relaxed into the small area. They may have been strangers when they first joined Voltron, but they had grown close. And now, with knees touching, crumbs falling, and smiles glowing, it was undeniable. They were family.

* * *

Whoooo! My first finished fanfic! Well, I hope you liked it! I already have a couple plans for other stories (1 fluff, 2 ANGST, potentially more too), but I'll be finishing Not On My Watch most likely before I post any of those.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story! I'm a bit new to endings, but hopefully it wasn't too horrible. If you'd like to be angel, leave a follow, favourite, or review!

By the way, I'm considering setting up a Voltron fanfiction writing swap/prompt/challenge thing, so let me know if you're interested!

You guys are the best! XD

-Sakarrie


End file.
